# Grimu-R

**Grimu-R** is an open-source framework for mixed visual-textual dataflow scripting, combining interactive web-based visual editing with polyglot scripting runtime.

## Core Concepts

**Weave**: A Git-friendly project representation containing the complete dataflow graph and layout
**Braid**: Reusable modules/entry points that can be nested and serve as CLI subcommands or RPC methods
**Sigil**: Basic building blocks - programs that act as data sources, sinks, or transformers
**Scroll**: Defines runtime environment and default configuration for sigils (developed with Nix)
**Inscription**: Dynamic scripts/templates stored in weaves, editable in the visual editor
**Strand**: Connects reactive inputs/outputs with configurable cadence decorators
**Schism/Aspect**: Splits weaves into deployable program collections
**Loom**: Interactive weaving and execution tools

## Key Features

- **Visual-textual editor**: Browser-based with immediate feedback and live code changes
- **Reactive dataflow**: Granular configuration for push/pull, throttling, batching, backpressure
- **Polyglot**: Real code blocks in familiar languages leveraging their ecosystems
- **Nix-powered**: Reproducible builds and environments with minimal setup effort
- **Malleable**: End users can inspect/modify dataflows using the same editor as developers
- **Embeddable**: Builds to CLI tools, RPC servers, web apps, or containers
- **Cross-language**: Structured data (JSON lines) connections between different runtimes

## Development Workflow

1. **Project setup**: Create Nix flake with Grimu-R base, enter dev shell
2. **Interactive weaving**: Use browser-based Loom editor to create braids, add sigils, connect with strands
3. **Modular development**: Factor out reusable braids, define custom scrolls, import/export as flake inputs/outputs
4. **Testing**: Run interactively in browser, define test data as static sigils, extract/execute via Loom CLI
5. **Deployment**: Define schisms with aspects, create bindings, build executables/containers

## Use Cases

- Rapid prototyping of data processing pipelines
- Self-hosted workflow automation
- Custom dashboards with complex logic
- Internal tooling and automation scripts
- Hacker-friendly, highly customizable applications

## Positioning

Takes the best from visual programming environments, script automation, and code notebooks while remaining developer-first. Avoids limitations of proprietary tools, brittleness of script bundles, and opacity of notebooks.

## Licensing

- **Platform components** (Loom tools, weave executors): AGPL v3
- **Base scrolls and non-platform code**: MIT
- AGPL applies to forks/extensions of platform code and SaaS deployments
- Your weaves and applications using Grimu-R are not affected by AGPL terms

## Technical Notes

- Development environment provisioned via Nix shell
- Visual editor communicates over WebSocket
- Changes stored in browser, exportable as files
- Cross-language via structured data pipes (like Unix pipes with JSON)
- Shared runtime dependencies managed by Nix
- Malleability limited to client-side parts in client-server applications